Louisville, Kentucky

A few weeks later, the crew is stopping in good ol' Louisville, Kentucky. Jenna tried to talk Aaron into letting her skip the show because she doesn't want anything to do with Kentucky anymore but he couldn't let her do that. He played the 'disappointed fans' card and hit her where it hurts.

So, after putting on her big girl panties, Jenna James is preparing herself to put on a kick ass show so she can show her family that they were all wrong about her. They told her she was wasting her time being creative and that she should just stay with Tiny because he wanted to go to the military but she wasn't going to let herself be some stay at home mom with a dwindling amount of self respect.

No way, she was set on making a name for herself in Nashville, Tennessee and here she is, doing just that.

Wyatt was the only one who supported her. He was just like her in every way, that's why they got along so well and were so close.

She knows he's just over the moon about what she's doing with her life now.

Jenna passes her vape to Michael who takes a hit. "Y'know, one day I'm gonna like comin' back here." She says, leaning against the brick wall of the venue. "I'm just gonna forget about what they said to me and be glad to be home. I liked my hometown but bein' around 'em ruined it from me."

"Yeah, maybe just let 'em words roll off your back." He shrugs, his hand on her knee. "But I'd like to meet your family one day."

"No."

"No?"

"No."

"Why no?"

"Because they'll ruin you like they ruined me."

"Babe," He sighs as he stands too. "They didn't ruin you. Their words made you a better person."

"Blah blah." She rolls her eyes. "Might just cut James off entirely and just go by Jenna Wyatt."

"That sounds cool."

"Or maybe do what y'all're doin' and just be mononymous like you and Ern."

"Jenna." He nods. "Sure."

"But it's a bitch to change my name like that so I'll prolly just stick with Jenna James." She shrugs. "You really wanna meet my family?"

"Yeah." He says. "We're here the day after tomorrow anyways so it'll be a good time to just be in and out."

She knows he isn't going to back down from this thought so she just gives in. "Okay." She sighs. "I'll call my brother and see what's goin' on after the show."

Michael kisses her sweetly. "Thanks baby."

+++

"Unlonely me, unmess my head. Unlock that door, unwreck my head. Unbreak my heart, unmake my bed. Just stay, don't leave, unlonely me..."

Jenna sings her heart out. She's right where she needs to be in life. Her pretty smile drops when she sees a familiar face- faces off to the side of the crowd.

There's no way.

There's no fucking way.

Son of a bitch.

She feels herself get pissed, absolutely livid. She hasn't felt this angry since before she left for Nashville; her last day home, her entire family shit on her.

Michael can see her getting angry. She's never angry. Sure, she gets upset sometimes, everyone does but she's never been angry. He leans over to Aaron and tells him something that he repeats into the monitors in her ears.

Jenna looks off to the side and sees Michael coming toward her with a mic in his hand. She's confused as hell.

"What the hell're you doin'?" She shouts in his ear.

"Just trust me." He shouts back, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek before he starts singing.

"You and I had this off and on so long. You've been here, then you've been gone so many times.

And every night, yeah I'm always bumping into you. Well, you do the same things we used to. It's your place or it's mine, so,"

Jenna uses this time to take a few calming breaths. Seeing her brother and his girlfriend just almost made her loose her cool but thank God Michael was there to distract her.

"Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh, We'll lie and swear we're through with the lonely, drunken deja vu. Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh, Five minutes out of downtown, ain't nothing but a countdown..."

Jenna wrote this song fully intending on sending it to Kane Brown immediately because he was stuck in her brain after she met him at the awards show but she hasn't sent it off to him yet.

Maybe she won't.

It's a goddamn banger of a song and she might just keep it for herself and turn it into a duet with Michael- be like the new Blake Shelton and Gwen whatever.

"One Mississippi, two Mississippi, Three shots of whiskey. Are you on your way? We're tipsy, baby, come kiss me, I can't wait, I can't wait. One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three in the mornin', we'll be on our way, so tipsy, can't stop kissin'. I can't wait, I can't wait forever..."

When the song ends, Jenna grabs Michael a little more roughly than she was anticipating and kisses him a little harder than expected.

She has no idea how she's feeling. She just knows she's the melting pot of every emotion right now.

She doesn't want to pull away from him but she knows she should. When she does, she looks down at her bare feet with a bright blush.

Jenna is counting down the minutes to the end of her set so she can finish what she started with Michael.

+++

Jenna has her hand tight around Michael's as they walk down the streets of Louisville to the hotel. She has a drink she snuck out of a bar in her other hand. Michael and her are both tipsy but responsibly so. They have tomorrow off so they want to live it up as much as they can.

"Jen!" Jenna leans into Michael, oblivious to the person calling her name. "Jen!"

"Huh?" She turns and looks around, confused as hell. "Did you hear that?"

"Jen!"

Her eyes land on her brother and she feels herself get upset again. "Son of a bitch." She grumbled through gritted teeth. "Joey."

"Been callin' your name for a while now." He says, catching up to his sister.

"What do you want?"

"Wow. Haven't seen you in like six years and that's the hello I get?"

"Seriously, Joe. What do you want?"

"Tiny came by sayin you's a singer now and none of us believed it."

"Wow, thanks." She rolls her eyes. "Uh, Michael, this is Joey, my brother. Joey, this is Michael."

They awkwardly shake hands.

"Nice show, by the way." Joey says. "You did good."

She suppresses an eye rolls. "Thanks."

"Anyways, Momma and Keith are gon' be ticked to death when you come home. They can't wait to see you again-"

"Wait, wait." Jenna says. "The hell do you mean 'come home'?"

Joey scoffs. "You're back here in Louisville."

"Yeah, as a stop on the tour." She shakes her head. "We gotta go."

"Wait."

"What?"

"Come by tomorrow if y'all're free."

Jenna looks up at Michael who gives her a soft smile back. "Fine. We'll swing by."

"Good. We'll see ya then." Joey grabs the girls hand and walks away.

"You owe me, Hardy." Jenna says to Michael.

"Yes ma'am." He replies, giving her ass a smack as they enter the hotel lobby.

+++